This page brings a diverse range of events dedicated to topics related to human capital and development. Whether you're interested in enhancing knowledge, building skills, improving health, or fostering inclusive societies, our live-streamed events offer valuable insights and opportunities for engagement. Join us to explore how investing in nutrition, health care, quality education, and job skills can end extreme poverty and create more inclusive communities.
What is the definition of human capital in development economics?
Human capital consists of the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate throughout their lives, enabling them to realize their potential as productive members of society. Investing in people through nutrition, health care, quality education, jobs and skills helps develop human capital, and this is key to ending extreme poverty, building more inclusive societies, and creating a peaceful sustainable world.
Why are country investments in human capital important?
Investing in human capital means equipping people with the education, health, knowledge, and skills they need to reach their full potential on a livable planet.
How can governments prioritize investments in health and quality education so that people can take on the jobs of today, and create employment opportunities of the future? The changing nature of work brings risks and opportunities. Investing in people’s skills, technical and vocational training, knowledge, and wellbeing can create an agile workforce that can adapt to global shifts like technological transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and climate change. Unless they strengthen their human capital, countries cannot achieve sustained, inclusive economic growth. A country’s workforce may not be prepared for the more highly skilled jobs of the future, and they will not compete effectively in the global economy.
Education financing and health financing can pay dividends
Investments in health, maternal health, nutrition, early childhood education, foundational learning, and pandemic preparedness can pay dividends in the future.
Strong human capital endowments are often passed across generations and reduce inequality. Making smart investments in a nation’s human capital provides benefits that empower more people – particularly women and girls – to reach their full potential.
What is the World Bank Group doing to strengthen human capital outcomes?
Human capital is at the center of the World Bank’s global strategy for development. The Human Capital Project is a global effort to accelerate more and better investments in people for greater equity and economic growth and a world where all children can achieve their full potential.
The Human Capital Index (HCI) quantifies the contribution of health and education to the productivity of the next generation of workers. Within countries, measuring progress of education and health outcomes sheds light on what works inform governments on where to target resources to address global challenges.
The World Bank, MIGA, IFC, and IDA provide evidence-driven policy advice in health, education, and social protection to help countries recover from overlapping crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and pave the way for today’s children to surpass the human capital achievements and quality of life of the generations that preceded them.
Engage with experts during livestreamed events
Our live events offer a unique opportunity to interact directly with economists, entrepreneurs, private sector partners, and practitioners who are at the forefront of shaping policies and practices to improve human capital outcomes. Hear from government ministers who have prioritized smart investments in people and improved country outcomes as a result. World Bank economists and experts who specialize in health, education, jobs, social protection, and gender will provide insights.
Find More Resources
Learn more about the Human Capital Project, the Human Capital Index, and how the World Bank Group is Investing in People.
Past Events
About World Bank Live
Since 2011, the World Bank Live platform has been a hub for high-level conversations on international development. Hosting over 650 events in English, with more than 200 also available in French, Spanish, and/or Arabic, it serves as a gateway to both upcoming and past events. The platform aims to help spark innovative ideas and translate them into actionable solutions, with a focus on ending poverty and boosting prosperity on a livable planet. Each event delves into critical economic issues aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with topics ranging from healthcare and pandemic preparedness to climate action and building sustainable communities. Read more >